In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Sarah Wrightsman sit down with artist Aris Moore! Using a variety of mediums, including some more out of the box ones, Aris Moore draws mostly invented beings or creatures that are whimsical, strange, silly, serious, emotional, and oddly relatable. In our conversation, we talk with Aris about how her creatures came to be, how she approaches the business side of being an artist, and how she’s coping with the state of the world. Aris is the 2024 winner of the Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant from the NH Charitable Foundation! The grant, if you’re not familiar, is available to all Piscataqua Region artists and recognizes the important contribution of working artists to the cultural life of the region by providing an annual financial award to promote the artistic growth of visual artists and craftspeople. Learn more about the grant at www.nhcf.org/how-can-we-help-you/apply-for-a-grant/artist-advancement-grant-program/. Here are the towns in the Piscataqua Region: https://www.nhcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/revised_piscataqua_letter_sized.pdf Check out Aris’s work on her website arismoore.bigcartel.com and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/arismoore. Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show!
In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Sarah Wrightsman sit down with artist Aris Moore! Using a variety of mediums, including some more out of the box ones, Aris Moore draws mostly invented beings or creatures that are whimsical, strange, silly, serious, emotional, and oddly relatable. In our conversation, we talk with Aris about how her creatures came to be, how she approaches the business side of being an artist, and how she’s coping with the state of the world.
Aris is the 2024 winner of the Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant from the NH Charitable Foundation! The grant, if you’re not familiar, is available to all Piscataqua Region artists and recognizes the important contribution of working artists to the cultural life of the region by providing an annual financial award to promote the artistic growth of visual artists and craftspeople. Learn more about the grant at www.nhcf.org/how-can-we-help-you/apply-for-a-grant/artist-advancement-grant-program/. Here are the towns in the Piscataqua Region: https://www.nhcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/revised_piscataqua_letter_sized.pdf
Check out Aris’s work on her website arismoore.bigcartel.com and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/arismoore.
Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord.
If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com.
Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show!
[INTRODUCTION]
[0:00:00] LHL: I'm Laura Harper Lake.
[0:00:01] SW: And I'm Sarah Wrightsman.
[0:00:03] LHL, SW: And you're listening to Creative Guts.
[0:00:17] LHL: Hey friends, thanks for tuning in to this episode of Creative Guts.
[0:00:21] SW: On today's episode, we're talking with Aris Moore. Aris is a Portsmouth-based artist, a drawer, and the creator of many interesting little creatures. And she's the winner of the 2024 Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
[0:00:40] LHL: We are so thrilled to talk with Aris, so let's get right into the guts of this episode of Creative Guts with Aris Moore.
[INTERVIEW]
[0:00:50] SW: Aris, we're really excited to have you on the Creative Guts podcast.
[0:00:53] AM: I'm super excited to be here.
[0:00:55] SW: This is going be very fun.
[0:00:56] LHL: We've been admiring your work, and we can't wait to dive into your mind to see how you create.
[0:01:01] AM: Oh, that's exciting. Thank you.
[0:01:03] SW: For our listeners who don't know anything about you, will you just introduce yourself and just tell them a little bit about who you are as a creative?
[0:01:11] AM: Well, as a creative, I would say I'm a drawer, which is kind of a funny thing to say. But I work with a lot of different materials, but I draw primarily. And I think I've kind of created my own little world that I've had some of the characters that are in it I've had since I was a kid. And I felt very differently about them when I was a kid, but we can talk about that later.
But yeah, a lot of my characters are sort of animals, human, insects too. There's lots of different pieces of reality and then also just sort of go new places with them. For me, I would say it's a lot about creating beings that I enjoy being with and that seem really sort of truthful, sincere. And I don't so much think about their emotions. I feel like they just kind of come out as I'm drawing them and then they relate to one another. And pretty much keeps it pretty exciting for me, too, just to see what happens. That's kind of how I approach it.
[0:02:11] SW: Do you think that their emotions are your emotions when you're drawing them?
[0:02:16] AM: I think I can relate to all of their emotions. I'm pretty emotional, yeah. And I would say probably in a given day, I probably had – yeah. And sometimes they don't agree too. Their eyes and their mouths don't agree. And I feel like that's often. I just feel like sort of in-betweeny. And so I feel like some of them have that quality. But yeah, I learned a lot about myself from looking at my work. I don't know if you guys feel that way, but I realized where I was at a certain time when I look back at my work and it's very clear to me. And I don't know if I would know myself as well, not that – I could work on it still. But if I didn't do what I do.
[0:02:55] LHL: What are you drawing with?
[0:02:56] AM: I draw with everything. I love pencil. And people laugh because I love BIC mechanical pencil.
[0:03:01] LHL: Yes.
[0:03:02] AM: And Dixon Ticonderoga, those are my favorites.
[0:03:04] LHL: That's awesome.
[0:03:05] AM: Nothing fancy. And then I love like paint markers, alcohol markers. I like sandpaper. Like I like sanding my drawings, which is really nice.
[0:03:13] SW: Oh, neat.
[0:03:15] AM: Yeah, it kind of pushes them in the paper, makes them sort of one. What else? I love erasers. I'm really big into erasing. And I just love paper. But let's think. What other materials? Oh, ballpoint pen. Any kind of pen. I love pens.
[0:03:29] LHL: I love that it's an additive and subtractive process, going back and forth between the two. Can you walk us actually – well, gosh. I have so many questions, I don't know what order to get them in. What size generally are these?
[0:03:42] AM: My work has been pretty small. And I love working in sketchbooks. That's kind of where I draw. And then when I sell work, I just take them out of my sketchbook.
[0:03:52] LHL: Nice.
[0:03:52] AM: Yeah. Probably around like anywhere from three by five and a half to, like, now they've gotten a lot larger, but probably that to eight by eleven or something. Most of my work is pretty small.
[0:04:08] SW: But they have such a captivating presence. In my head, I imagine them to be two feet by three feet or something. They just have this huge captivating presence. That's so amazing.
[0:04:19] AM: Well, that's nice to hear. I think I just love working small and I love working in a book. I worked with an artist once, Laila Ali. I was so lucky to work with her as a mentor when I was in grad school. And she's like, "It's so funny because I see your characters when you draw them in your sketchbook and they behave a certain way. And then you try to work on large paper, and all of a sudden they get stage fright." And so I sort of never forgotten that, and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, they do." But I don't know if we're gonna talk about it, but I have been working larger lately, and I think they're getting over their stage fright, which is super exciting for me.
[0:04:52] LHL: You need time to like grow into that, though, it feels like. Has it been sort of just organically happening, or are you really, really pushing yourself?
[0:05:00] AM: - Well, when I applied for the grant, that was my goal, was like, "I'm going to work larger." And I knew that all my materials would change or how I approach them. They didn't all change, but how I approach using them was going to have to change. New scale. And I was actually approached by a gallery in Mexico who wanted to show my work in a fair, one of the art fairs in Miami, along with one other artist. And she had this beautiful plan, and I was like, "Okay." And she's like, "But I would love if you could do some larger works." And I was like, "Well, okay, because that's kind of what I'm doing anyway."
I started working really large. I think I made 20 pieces that were like 22 by 30, ranging from there, to like 18 by 24, maybe a couple of 14 by 17s, but still pretty big for me. And I had so much fun. It was just really, really amazing. And they were all single figures is kind of like what she wanted, which I didn't even mind her telling me that because sometimes I just love a boundary. You know? It's just nice to have that like sort of coziness of like, "Oh, this is what I'm doing."
[0:06:00] LHL: Guardrails are great.
[0:06:02] AM: Yeah. - I feel great about that. Yeah, really, it's been fun. And now I'm going to have a show at 3S from the grant, and now I kind of have to get going again because most of those sold and now I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to start fresh again and do some big drawings."
[0:06:17] SW: Was it weird at first? Did it feel strange to be doing this sort of larger scale?
[0:06:22] AM: I was just nervous because I psyched myself out, and you think you're this certain way. And then I don't know what happened, but I made it through and I was so proud of myself because I think I didn't have time to get that nervous. But I just laid on the floor with big pieces of paper and all sorts of materials. Sanded them, raised. Oh, I bought an electric eraser. One of my students turned me on to this. So good. You have to get one. They were like $10 on Amazon. But not that I should even – don't go to Amazon. Go somewhere else. But such a cool tool. It's for texture and everything. And where I'm doing sort of animals that have a lot of fur, and texture, and pattern, it was a really cool addition to my – I love being like an art nerd with my students. We just like share materials. I'm sure you guys know what that's like.
[0:07:13] LHL: Yes. You have described your creatures as whimsical, strange, silly, curious, emotional, and oddly relatable. And you'd also just mentioned that you felt a little bit differently in the past when you were younger. I guess what is the evolution of these little folks?
[0:07:30] AM: Well, it's funny, I think I've gotten to know them more. I have this one character that I think of as like a monkey. I loved monkeys when I was kid. And this monkey would be on all cards to my grandmother, like, "I love you." And happy birthday cards, Mother's Day cards. But I look at it now and the monkey had a really big smile and I thought, "Oh, smile is so big that makes it happier." It looks tortured. Tortured. And I realized this is an adult, and it's so fun because that's kind of – childhood and all of its magic and everything has its moments of torture. It was kind of smiling like this smile.
[0:08:14] LHL: Whole teeth.
[0:08:15] AM: Yeah. And so it was just funny, I don't know, just to see what I was doing and understand myself more as I got older. Yeah, the relationship that I have with them is – gosh, I don't even know how to describe it. Yeah, I think we just get each other.
[0:08:34] LHL: Do you have a name for them as a collective?
[0:08:39] AM: No. That would be really cool of me if I did. You know what I mean? That would be amazing. And, honestly, I had a professor in grad school that was like, "You're just like populating the world. There's so many of them. Who are these things? Who are these people?" And I'm just keep populating the world. They don't all have names and some of them are related clearly just by the way they look. But yeah, it's very sort of amorphous. And, yeah, I don't know.
[0:09:07] SW: How do you name the pieces? There's like a huge range. And some of them are like clearly the emotion and some of them are just –
[0:09:13] AM: Yeah. Sometimes the best titles just come to me and I don't know exactly like what it is. Maybe it's emotional or I'm just responding to – I never have an idea in mind before I started drawing. I don't even know what I'm going to do in terms of like emotioner. Yeah, I don't often know that. Yeah, the titles just kind of come after the fact.
And sometimes I'll look in books if I'm really stuck for a title for a certain piece. I'll just look and try to find passages and it will get my mind going, you know? And sometimes I just use the day of the week because that just feels right, you know? I have a lot of Thursdays and Mondays.
[0:09:51] SW: I'm looking at a Tuesday right now.
[0:09:52] AM: Yeah, Tuesdays. That helps. And then when I was a kid, I got really confused with like the day. I used to be like the day before yesterday, the day after tomorrow. I just didn't really get like yesterday, today and tomorrow. So I've played with that a little bit too.
[0:10:06] SW: Oh, I love that.
[0:10:07] AM: The day before today.
[0:10:09] SW: Yeah, I love that.
[0:10:10] AM: Yeah. Some of them were just kind of silly. And then I also used numbers. Because at one point, I was trying to figure out if there was a certain time of the month that I was more creative. It wasn't very scientific. But in my sketchbook. I started just putting numbers on the page for every day of the month that was, and I never really looked back to see how that worked out. Never used numbers. Yeah, now I kind of go – sometimes it's the date and sometimes the number just makes sense, like almost in a synesthesia sort of way. Like, "This is definitely a number 18, you know? I cannot tell you why, but it is for sure."
[0:10:43] SW: It's interesting because some of the titles feel random, like a number. You're like, "I don't know the significance of that number." Some of them, I'm like, "Oh, that's kind of funny." I'm looking at one called You put that back!, with an exclamation for it. And then some of them are very meditative, like this one called Pause.
[0:11:00] AM: Yeah, I feel like I do have that full range of – that's just who I am as a person too. It's like the quiet sort of sad, pensive, and then the wildly loud and obnoxious. Yeah, and whimsical, and then angry, like right now especially. Just angry, frustrated, irreverent. And all parts are welcome. And I like it when they all make their appearance.
[0:11:27] SW: I really like it. It almost makes the title part of the art. And I don't usually care what a piece of art is called. But now I want to like –
[0:11:36] AM: Ooh, hot takes.
[0:11:37] SW: I know. Sorry. But now I always want to know, like, "Ooh, what's the title of this one?"
[0:11:44] AM: Oh, that's fun, yeah.
[0:11:45] LHL: Man, Sarah, I'm going to make art for you with really funny titles to make you care. So funny. I heard numbers really work.
[0:11:55] SW: Yeah. Well, I like this one called Red Pants, and like there's a little character with red pants in it.
[0:12:02] AM: Yeah, that little guy helped me out.
[0:12:04] SW: Or 2025 so far and it's a bunch of slugs. I like that one. I vibe with that one.
[0:12:09] AM: Yeah.
[0:12:12] LHL: We had mentioned the grant a few times in our conversation. You were recently awarded the Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant from New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. What does this mean for your practice and what was the process like?
[0:12:26] AM: I'm still in shock, but it was a grueling process to sit down and write. Because that's always like – oh, I just always feel defeated before I began when I write. And I like writing.
[0:12:39] LHL: It's hard to write about yourself, though, I think. Yeah.
[0:12:42] AM: Yeah, and it's hard to come up with a plan. And I know it wasn't hard to come up with a plan, actually. I kind of felt like the plan part was easy. But yeah, just putting it all into words. And it just felt like amazing to even just like, "Really? What?" I just had never written a grant before. And I've heard people talk about writing grants is like this really stressful thing, so I kind of had that too.
[0:13:06] SW: You had to do a budget and other financial piece.
[0:13:09] AM: Yeah, budget, the financial piece. And when you would finish one, then I'd be like, "Oh, no. I still got to do my budget like." Or I got to do my artist statement. But, really, in the end, I feel like it was pretty organic for me. And luckily, one of my students was a UNH professor and I'm like, "Can you look it over for me?" And then another friend. I mean, it's great to have friends that are really bright. I've always had friends that are really bright. But, yeah, they helped me out a lot.
[0:13:35] LHL: Was this your first time applying for this grant? Or did you do it for multiple years?
[0:13:39] AM: It was my first time, which I never thought. Because I know that people apply for this grant over and over again. I really thought that this was just me sort of getting my feet wet in this process. And so I was really, really surprised when Erin called me. I couldn't believe it. Yeah, cried. Because it's just huge. It just felt really validating and amazing. I don't know. Because art, sometimes you just feel like it's so frivolous. I don't anymore. I don't. And especially in this climate right now, I just feel like it's so necessary.
[0:14:12] LHL: It's essential.
[0:14:13] AM: It's essential. And even like my crazy characters, I feel like people are like, "that's me." And just the wholesomeness of that and people seeing themselves and opening conversation and just camaraderie of that just is so amazing. And just to have a foundation, think that this is really important. And to think my work is even important. I would get teary just talking about it. Yeah, it was just amazing. Yeah, it felt really, really amazing.
[0:14:41] SW: This grant is so cool.
[0:14:42] LHL: It is. It is. And art is a universal language. I feel like when we need unity the most, it really brings us together. And your work is amazing because everybody can see themselves in it. Everyone can harness those emotions that they're feeling in good times and bad and feel that there.
[0:15:01] AM: It also amazes me.
[0:15:03] SW: Yeah.
[0:15:03] AM: That's such an amazing thing. Because for years, I've drawn. And I can remember my best friend in high school was like, "You're really good, but you just draw the ugliest thing." And I was like, "Thanks, James." And my students would be like, "Ms. Moore, you're so fun and like sunshiney, and then your work's so weird and like nightmarish." You know? Except for like the little kids. The little kids loved it. Because little kids, they're just so cool.
[0:15:27] LHL: Well, I think there's something about surrealism, which is what I would classify it as perhaps?
[0:15:31] AM: Yeah, I think that's fair.
[0:15:32] LHL: I think it's beautiful surrealism, like bizarre surrealism, not creepy or scary, like some kids might have said. But I think people are attracted to that. And when they feel like it's darker, it's like because it's bringing things up. It makes you think a little bit differently than a landscape painting, which is nice in itself, but it doesn't necessarily like harness your inner –
[0:15:54] AM: It's more of like an escape.
[0:15:55] LHL: Yes.
[0:15:56] AM: Or a beautiful gift to get to go somewhere. Yeah.
[0:15:58] LHL: Yeah. It can bring its own peace, and that's lovely, and valid, and important, too. But stuff that makes you ponder, and think, and look within yourself, I think that's really strong and compelling.
[0:16:11] AM: I agree. I just had the most amazing experience. A father who had lost his son a few years back wrote me. And he had seen my work in Miami and he's like, "I know this is a really weird ask, but I was just wondering. I really connect to your characters and the emotion, and I was wondering if you could create one for me." And I don't normally do commissions. But, of course, I feel here and I have to say yes. But it was like one that sort of shows the longing and the boundless love that I have for my son and the feelings. Yeah, he just wrote this beautiful – he's just very honest and sensitive and I couldn't say no, but I also was like, "I'm going to try my best."
And I don't know, this is – I'd want it to be Amazing. And if I can get there. And I did, which was awesome. It felt really amazing. And I felt so close to him and his son. And it was this one figure. And at certain times, I felt like it was him. At certain times, I felt like it was his son. Yeah, it was a really beautiful experience. And I feel like it might offer some sort of healing to him. He's going to have this creature that I made in his house that I feel like is going to be this being, this in-between being that connects them, which is just like amazing. And I didn't know him, and now I know him, and he let me know his son. And it was just a really powerful experience.
[0:17:29] LHL: So beautiful. Side note, in my opinion, I think you just named the in-between beings could be the name of your creatures, the in-between beings.
[0:17:39] AM: Yeah, that's a great – I like that.
[0:17:41] LHL: You just said that and it hit me.
[0:17:42] AM: In-between beings.
[0:17:43] LHL: Yeah, they're all in-between.
[0:17:46] AM: I like that. Yeah.
[0:17:47] LHL: You said it.
[0:17:47] AM: Well, it's really good. Thanks for repeating it. I'll pay you later.
[0:17:52] SW: This is what the podcast is for.
[0:17:55] AM: Yes.
[0:17:56] SW: Oh, that's beautiful.
[0:17:58] AM: Really, it was neat. And it was scary, which is amazing, because that helps me grow too. Just to take on things like that, yeah. And even, too, the business of that. It's hard to like talk – I have a hard time with the business of art anyway, and especially when it's something that emotional. But then you have to do that too. And that's also validating because you're like, "Okay. No. I am, again, doing something that is not just for fun."
[0:18:23] LHL: Yes. It has purpose beyond your own fulfillment and in the moment.
[0:18:28] AM: Right. And it is kind of like my thing I do. I hate to say my job, but it's my thing I do. My thing I do.
[0:18:34] SW: My thing I do. How are you feeling when you got the call from the New Hampshire Charitable? Because it must've been like, "Hey, it's Erin from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation." And you're like, "Why are you calling me?"
[0:18:46] AM: Well, it's funny. I didn't think that she'd be calling, but I thought she'd be calling to be like either you didn't get it or maybe I didn't – maybe I thought maybe I would get one of the other. I don't know.
[0:18:58] LHL: Because they offer a few smaller runner-ups.
[0:19:00] AM: Yeah, definitely 100% did not ever think. I was like home alone with my cat and I was like going from room to room, just like, "Oh, my God." Yeah. No, it's just an amazing, amazing – yeah.
[0:19:15] SW: I think Shaina Gates also mentioned being home alone. This must be like noteworthy. You get amazing news and you're like, "Why am I home alone?"
[0:19:23] AM: Yeah, nobody to tell.
[0:19:23] SW: Where's my people?
[0:19:24] AM: Told my cat. I'm like, "Teeters, guess what?"
[0:19:28] SW: For folks who aren't familiar – and I read the write-up that New Hampshire Charitable Foundation did on you today, and one of the lines that jumped out to me was the grant helps cultivate the arts community, which it definitely does, boosts artists' careers, which it totally does, and helps to keep artists living and working in the area.
[0:19:47] LHL: And if folks are wondering what area is this, it is on the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation's website. And we will link that in the description. It's a lot of towns that are based in the Seacoast of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Is that correct?
[0:20:02] AM: I'm going to read you a whole list of towns right now.
[0:20:05] LHL: And they're all expensive to live in, too. Just saying. It's very helpful.
[0:20:11] SW: And you have to have lived there, I think, for at least two years. It is a ton of towns, but it's a lot of Stratford County, a lot of Rockingham County. And, yes, some of that Southern Maine, York County area too.
[0:20:20] LHL: We'll put a link directly to the map in the description for you, folks.
[0:20:25] SW: Look at this beautiful map that you can't see.
[0:20:27] LHL: And the deadline to apply for the 2025 is –
[0:20:30] SW: The deadline is Wednesday, April 30th, 2025. And it doesn't have a time. But I'm very generous, so I'm going to say midnight.
[0:20:37] LHL: We are not at liberty to say.
[0:20:39] SW: That's right.
[0:20:40] LHL: So you know what, folks? Give yourself –
[0:20:42] SW: Midnight. Midnight it is.
[0:20:44] LHL: Give yourself that buffer and say the deadline is Tuesday, April 29th and just –
[0:20:49] SW: That's smarter than my way.
[0:20:51] LHL: Just free that last day in case there's something that goes wrong, you have extra buffer time.
[0:20:55] AM: There you go. That's good thinking.
[0:20:58] LHL: I know that's what I'll do. Maybe. Maybe not.
[0:21:01] SW: Yes. Right. Laura's going to be like, "Can you review this at like 11:50pm?"
[0:21:05] LHL: Yeah.
[0:21:09] SW: Oh, man.
[0:21:10] LHL: What advice would you give to other artists who either they've applied a bunch or have never applied before? What would you say would help get them in the mindset? Or any tips for moving forward in making this happen?
[0:21:24] AM: Don't think about what you think anybody else wants to hear about your work. Really, it's such a personal thing. Just be really personal about your work and, yeah, speak from that place because I think sometimes we can get – you don't have to make it sound like more important or harder than it is or more complicated than it is. Just be really raw and real. I mean, I think that's something I try to remember, too, just in making art, too. It doesn't have to feel like work.
Typically, when it feels like work, you're not doing what you really were meant to do. I feel like when I'm playing, I know I'm there. I'm in that sweet spot of like, "Oh, things are happening." Yeah, I can't say enough that art is play. That's not to say that it's not serious. And we have been playing for years, so we really know how to play. I've been playing for a really long time. But, yeah, just gathering tools and then just trying to be really real and raw.
And I think the writing process, for me, I just really tried to do that. Just tried to be me, you know? Just come from that place. And I think just getting older, I just turned 50, it's kind of where I'm at. I wear really comfy overalls every day. And I'm just who I – you know what I mean? It's like, "Yeah, this is it."
[0:22:41] SW: Love that.
[0:22:42] AM: I'm kind of like done trying to –
[0:22:44] LHL: Be someone else.
[0:22:45] AM: Yeah. I mean, I'm still working on myself, of course, because we all are. But yeah, I'm pretty – I'm kind of like sighing and like leaning back on my chair like, "Okay, yes. Yeah," which is a nice place to be.
[0:22:55] SW: I did actually think that there would be a time when we'd be done working on ourselves and like we'd be fully developed.
[0:23:01] AM: And full. I know.
[0:23:02] SW: That's not a thing.
[0:23:03] AM: No. It's like not. But there is the point where you care less. Actually, again, I think sometimes when you're making work and you care less, it's a really good place to be. I think sometimes when you're living, just living day-to-day and you care less, it's like such a sweet spot to just care less.
[0:23:20] SW: Yeah, that's amazing. I should have asked this earlier when we were talking about your art more specifically, but I'm wondering if you've thought about – thinking about your perfect little creatures and characters. If you've thought about doing things like stickers or prints, or if you're only selling the sort of original pieces, the original drawings.
[0:23:38] AM: For a long time, I was only doing originals, but I recently started selling prints through Sebastian Foster Gallery Online. And he's great. He makes beautiful prints. And I did some prints myself, and it was so much work. And he actually helped me. He was so sweet. He's like, "Well, you should do this and this and this. And then if you decide that you don't want to do it, come back to me." He must have known that I would just like come right back to him. But he helped me so much. He was so kind. And it it's a lot of work to do on your own.
But, yeah, I'm not opposed to stickers. I loved stickers when I was a kid. In fact, I look for my kids. I have a little sister, and I just love her to bits. Not my kid, but it's from their dad's second marriage. And I'm always looking for sticker books like I had when I was a kid. And I know you guys didn't grow up in the 80s, but I did, and 80s stickers were awesome. Yeah, I would love to make stickers. I've been thinking about that.
[0:24:33] LHL: I was born in the 80s.
[0:24:33] SW: I was going to say, she thinks you're very young.
[0:24:35] LHL: I did grow up –
[0:24:35] AM: I do. Yeah. I think you guys are so much younger than me.
[0:24:38] LHL: How old do you think I am? We can edit this out.
[0:24:39] AM: I would definitely think that you're in your – definitely like early 30s. That's what I'm thinking.
[0:24:44] LHL: I'm going to be 40 soon.
[0:24:45] AM: Really? Yeah, I wouldn't know. I wouldn't have known.
[0:24:48] LHL: Thank you. Well, I wouldn't have thought that you were 50 either.
[0:24:50] AM: Well, thanks. Shocks.
[0:24:52] LHL: I was like, "Oh, yeah, we're the same age."
[0:24:53] AM: Me, too. Okay.
[0:24:54] LHL: And then we have this baby over here.
[0:24:56] AM: Yeah. In her 20s, probably.
[0:24:58] SW: 35.
[0:24:59] AM: Oh, 35. Well, I was going to say –
[0:25:01] SW: Yeah, old enough to be president, but still young enough to be – can anybody be president.
[0:25:08] LHL: Sorry, you can edit that out. But I don't think you should, because we're in a time.
[0:25:12] SW: We are in a time.
[0:25:14] AM: We are in a time. I remember being little in the 80s, and the only thing that I had sort of lived through that was big was the Challenger explosion. That was huge. And the threat of the Cold War. Those were like the things that were big. And then I remember thinking like, "Gosh, nothing really note – oh my gosh, we've had so much stuff happen that's like really noteworthy." And we're living in a really, really important time.
[0:25:42] SW: Yeah.
[0:25:42] AM: For so many reasons. Not just now. Even just like the birth of the internet. That's us.
[0:25:47] LHL: Yeah, everything's accelerating. It's such a drastic way all the time, the technology, everything, and the dark times that are upon us right now.
[0:25:55] SW: The backwards times. Not always moving forward.
[0:25:58] AM: Is this the upside down?
[0:26:00] LHL: Yeah, this is the upside down.
[0:25:59] SW: It's always like Millennials who like this is they're like fourth once in a lifetime recessions. But like Gen X is also. This is your like fourth once-in-a-lifetime recession.
[0:26:11] AM: Yeah, a lot has happened. I will say though, one thing that I really love is I think a lot of times we think like, "Oh, kids, they're just getting worse and worse." But I get the chills when I think of the kids that I teach now, they're so accepting. And I saw it happen as a teacher. I had to say less and less because I was very particular about how my community of my classroom was going to be. That was super important to me. I had to do that less and less because they're just so much more accepting. And I love their patience with me, too, just to like understand things, like pronouns. And just helping us older people along our way, it's beautiful. I really hurt for them right now. I really hurt for my students because a lot of them are – yeah.
[0:26:51] LHL: I know we interviewed two young people who at the time of the interview was right before these past election. And then the interview aired a couple months after the election, and it was really heartbreaking to listen to because they had such hope and exuberance. And there's been a few people we've interviewed who have had that.
[0:27:09] AM: It's rough. And it's rough to be angry right now. I'm really sad to be angry and I'm sad that it changes my drawing.
[0:27:17] LHL: I was going to ask that, because Creative Guts – and this will have happened after this episode releases, I think, but an artist recently reached out to us and said, "Could you host some kind of informal casual thing where artists can get together and just sort of almost like a support group." Really, just talk about the process of art making during challenging times around all of this. We're holding a couple next week and the week after. And so I wanted to put this to you and say how do you personally – does it fuel you? Does it stall you? Does it – what? How do you keep coming to art during this time?
[0:27:50] AM: I mean, I need it more than ever, but I would say that a lot of my beings just look petrified. They just are just – and I don't love that for them. But it's also hard to – a lot of my working is selling my work on Instagram. I don't want to be on Instagram. Actually, it's a really upsetting place to be. I don't want to see all that's happening in the Ukraine. It's like so devastating. Devastating just everywhere. And I'm struggling with that right now. And I'm thinking, "Okay, I just want to work big and be in galleries." Because I just don't know how much I can handle. I mean, I think we all are just – everybody's having a hard time with this. And I just feel sensitive in that I can't – you just know it's not healthy for you. It's good to know, I know, that we have to keep sort of abreast of what's going on and everything, but there's a point where you have to save yourself too.
[0:28:43] LHL: And on social media, if you're planning to sit down and watch the news, you can brace yourself. On social media, you're going to see a cute puppy, you're going to see a meme, and then you're going to see some war image, and then you're gonna see –
[0:28:52] AM: I can't believe what they show now.
[0:28:54] LHL: Yeah, there's no guardrail. I mean, sometimes there's some sensitive information thing. But still the news itself, just the devastating impact of reading a headline, really hits you, and you're just bombarded with it constantly.
[0:29:07] AM: It's constant devastation and anger, I feel like.
[0:29:09] LHL: Yeah. I think some artists are moving to smaller social media spaces that aren't built that way or aren't built for that.
[0:29:18] AM: So hard to learn another one. I'm so not great at computer stuff, and like Instagram's taking forever. And Instagram's not even doing great for me anyway. I'm going backwards completely on Instagram, which I think a lot of people are. I would predict that Meta is definitely going to tank within the next two or three years. I could just see it. It's a slow, slow, slow plane crash. But that's a whole another conversation.
[0:29:43] LHL: No, I know. And it would be nice to like – I think Bluesky sounds really lovely. I know it's run by great people. And it's something I keep looking at. And I'm on it. Yeah. If you want to follow me, I'll follow you back. But I don't really know how it works yet, the ins and outs. But yeah, that's something I need to really focus on because I think it'll make me happier.
[0:30:02] AM: Yeah.
[0:30:03] LHL: Cara is a really nice one, too, but it's really artist-focused. If you're trying to reach folks who aren't artist –
[0:30:06] AM: Oh, I have that one too.
[0:30:08] LHL: Oh, we should be friends on it.
[0:30:08] AM: Yeah, let's be friends. I have like five. It was a while back I did that, and I know I still have the – what do you call it? Is that a widget?
[0:30:14] LHL: Yeah. Yes. Yeah.
[0:30:17] AM: I never even know if I use – I like try to throw in a word like widget. But I don't know if I'm using it correctly.
[0:30:21] LHL: Like on your website.
[0:30:22] AM: Yeah. No, on my screen, on my phone.
[0:30:25] LHL: Oh, yes.
[0:30:25] AM: That little – Yeah, I have that. But I don't know where it is. But yeah, I'll have to get back there.
[0:30:31] LHL: I'll hunch you on there and a notification will pop up and you'll be like, "Oh, yeah."
[0:30:34] AM: Awesome. Yeah. Definitely, I think we should all do that, because if we can create new communities. And the thing is I really like Instagram. I've met amazing people on Instagram. And I've had a really positive experience there. I haven't received a lot of negative feedback. It's just been a really, really nice place except for the other stuff.
[0:30:53] LHL: And the AI.
[0:30:54] AM: Yeah. I saw a creepy robot thing. Swedish inventor or something. Did you see that today?
[0:31:00] SW: No.
[0:31:02] LHL: Oh, the horse?
[0:31:02] AM: They just sort of – no. Horse, that would be better.
[0:31:06] SW: I don't know if it was real.
[0:31:06] AM: It's like a creepy humanoid that's like scary that people are going to have in their houses. I'm like, "Hmm. Thanks. I'll just do everything myself."
[0:31:13] LHL: We haven't had enough movies to warn us about the pitfalls of this?
[0:31:16] AM: Seriously. I know. I'm just waiting for like – yeah, never mind. I was just going to say, waiting for some of the people that are scaring us right now in our politics to find out that they're like not human.
[0:31:28] LHL: Yeah.
[0:31:28] AM: That would answer a lot of my questions.
[0:31:30] SW: This is so hopeful. Wouldn't it surprise any of us?
[0:31:33] AM: Yeah, it would make me feel actually a lot better. Because I'm surprised at humanity. I know. That's a sad place to be. Because, honestly, most of us are so good. There's so much goodness. I think this time is the saddest because it's making me question that.
[0:31:47] SW: Yeah. It's pretty clear, too, that you've curated sort of a community on your Instagram of like followers who get you or your art gets them. Because I'm looking at your posts from around the time of the election, and a lot of them are – you can tell what they're trying to say. You just feel it, right? And there's no caption explaining this is what this drawing is about. But people are responding with things like, "Couldn't have put it better myself," or, "Yes, I totally feel this." Truly, you didn't say anything, but you said so much, and people got it, people understood it.
[0:32:18] AM: Which feels like a hug.
[0:32:19] SW: It does.
[0:32:19] AM: It actually just feels like we're together in this, you know? Yeah, it's a good feeling.
[0:32:24] LHL: For sure.
[0:32:25] SW: I was looking at this one, for example. And it's election day. And someone's like, "Couldn't have put it better myself." Accurate. This is better than any words for today. This just about sums it up. You didn't say anything, but you said so much and people understood it and they heard you. Probably because you heard them in your art.
[0:32:46] AM: We're all doing our best. Yeah, and that's all we can do.
[0:32:51] SW: That's all we can do.
[0:32:50] AM: And you know what's sad? There is this just one part of me that tries to think everybody's just doing the best with what they have at this moment. And it's so hard to think about that with certain people. I wish I was a better person. I keep trying to remind myself, like, "Okay, people who hurt hurt." But we're at an extreme place and I just can't quite get there. And I'm okay. I think that's okay.
[0:33:16] SW: Yeah. I'm struggling with it. There's still a little tiny part of me I think that thinks we're on like reality show or like we're being pranked somehow and I'm waiting for it to reveal itself.
[0:33:27] LHL: Yeah.
[0:33:27] SW: Yeah. When is Ashton Kutcher going to like show up?
[0:33:28] LHL: Wow. Wouldn't that just be so rela – that would just be so amazing. I would feel so much better.
[0:33:33] LHL: I don't think that I would appreciate it.
[0:33:34] AM: No, I'd be pissed. I'd be very, very upset. Yeah. But, yeah, I would also be like – yeah, relieved.
[0:33:45] LHL: So this is the challenge, right? What are some other challenges that you face as an artist, entrepreneur?
[0:33:49] AM: I think, honestly, just being real and just not relying too much on response to my work. I think that's always a hard thing. When Instagram's failing you and you feel like – and then I'm like, "Wait, really? Stop." Just go draw and don't worry about that, you know? Because, really, it's lovely and there's a lot a good there, but it's also not the end-all, be-all. And it doesn't really tell us our worth. I think it's just good to keep that in mind.
Well, and I think the energy piece. Right now, so much energy is going to fear, and upset, and anger. And so I found one thing that really helps me is just grabbing my sketchbooks, and my journal, and a bunch of materials and just going to bed. And just getting in bed and just being cozy with my cat and drawing. It just feels good. I think it's just a really good time, too, to just listen to what you need.
[0:34:42] LHL: Yeah, because some people get fueled by being active, and in the streets, and hands off. And some people get energized by –
[0:34:52] SW: Or do one up.
[0:34:52] LHL: Yeah. Or doing both maybe equally or not giving yourself too much to one thing.
[0:34:57] AM: It's funny. I went to the streets the other day for the protests, and I woke up upset. Wasn't sure whether I want to – what to do. And then I saw everybody just gathering and gathering and gathering in downtown Portsmouth. And I was like – I went down. But I think what I was most afraid of was crying. I thought like this is going to be really emotional to feel this camaraderie with all of these people and to see how many people. It's going to be beautiful, and warm, and amazing, and scary as all hell. You know? And it was. And I started telling this woman next me because we kept starting chants.
I was telling her, I said, "I just thought I was going to cry." And then I started crying. It's like, "Okay, I did it. Whatever." You know, it's emotional. It's just – yeah. I think, yeah, you can do it all. But I'd say definitely crawl in your bed with your sketchbook, or knitting, or whatever makes you feel calm.
[0:35:48] LHL: Yeah. Well the act of creating is in itself just such a – it's a rebellious thing. You're putting something into being that wasn't there. And when you happen to be gutsy enough to share it and then others relate to it, you're creating even more to combat isolation and those fears.
[0:36:06] AM: And I think, too, I've noticed in my artwork. I remember when 9/11 happened, I regressed in my work. I had the sketchbook where I just – and it was just such a nice place to be, but I was definitely going back to a time that felt better. And I'll actually have to look at that now to see if that's happening. Actually, no. I actually bought some sketchbooks the size of these landscapes that I used to do and I was like, "I'm going back to the woods. I'm going back to the woods with some of my beings. And I'm going to just be peaceful." Yeah, I kind of thought that today. Just today I was like, "That's when I'm –" I'm purposefully regressing. Yeah, when I'm in my bed. Because when I'm not, I need to work on large drawings for my –
[0:36:49] LHL: Yes.
[0:36:51] AM: Hopefully, those won't all be angry, or like fearful, or frightened. But we'll see.
[0:36:56] LHL: There'll probably be a big mix, I would say.
[0:36:58] AM: Yeah. To be truthful, it'll all be there. Yeah, for sure.
[0:37:02] SW: It is tough to be an artist. And I can go to my job and more or less fake it when I'm not feeling it. But when you're an artist, I feel it's so much harder to do that. You're trying to like put your soul on paper and create something. And it's just not a good place to do that if you feel like you're faking it. It shows in your arts.
[0:37:22] AM: Yeah, that's true.
[0:37:22] LHL: Yeah. I feel like teaching was hard like that, too. Although teaching was sometimes a gift, too, to be with kids. You just kind of forget what's going wrong because they're so fun and like spontaneous.
[0:37:32] AM: And it takes all your energy, right? To be there, be there.
[0:37:36] LHL: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But that's true. Yeah, it does make it a little bit challenging because you just really want to feel like you're in a good place.
[0:37:44] SW: Yes.
[0:37:45] AM: Yeah.
[0:37:46] LHL: I think it's time for rapid-fire.
[0:37:48] AM: Okay, Laura.
[0:37:49] LHL: What other artist has influenced you the most?
[0:37:53] AM: Oh, I've had so many love affairs with different artists over the years. You know who one of my favorites is this minimalist, Agnes Martin. Her writing and her work, she just pulled it all down to an essence that I think is just really magical and pure. Yeah, I just have always been enamored of her and just –
[0:38:16] SW: Lovely.
[0:38:16] AM: Yeah, very different than my work. Although I was a minimalist at one point. Before figurative art was cool, I was like drawing my figures in my sketchbook and like animals and stuff. Yeah. But in my undergrad, it was like figurative was not cool. Back in the – when was that? '90s. Yeah.
[0:38:34] SW: Wow. We knew we did not spend enough time talking about your evolution as an artist.
[0:38:39] AM: Well, you know what? It's hard. We have pressing times right now.
[0:38:41] LHL: We do.
[0:38:41] AM: We're still very fun, positive people, but it's hard. We got to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
[0:38:47] SW: Yup. If you could outsource one task, only one of your like sort of art-preneur, art-business side of the business, which one would it be?
[0:38:59] AM: Ooh, I would almost say going to the post office, but I like the ladies at the post office. Yeah. Honestly, I have to get up real, like lots of – to go to the – because I have to get in my car. And I never get in my car. And yeah, going to the post office is like – yeah.
[0:39:15] SW: That's exactly what I would say. If somebody asked me that question about Creative Guts, I'd be like, "Oh, the post office."
[0:39:21] AM: For sure. I would be fundraising.
[0:39:24] LHL: Oh, smart. Yeah.
[0:39:25] AM: I do that a little more often than going to the post office. That's brilliant, Laura.
[0:39:30] LHL: And you know what else, too? Also, looking at like reach and engagement.
[0:39:35] AM: Insights.
[0:39:37] LHL: All those insights. I just can't even get a handle on that. I'll try to be like, "I'm just really going to be a business about this." No. Cannot do it. I just don't even want to look at it.
[0:39:44] SW: I hate when people ask us questions about our insights. I'm like, "I don't know. What difference does that make?"
[0:39:49] AM: I don't know my numbers, okay?
[0:39:51] SW: I mean, we kind of do know them. But who cares?
[0:39:55] LHL: Yeah.
[0:39:55] AM: Yeah, to others, they might be small. To us, they're, very very big.
[0:39:59] SW: It's all relative, friends.
[0:40:01] LHL: What is your favorite color?
[0:40:04] AM: Blue. I know it's everybody's, but I just love blue. Yeah, feels good.
[0:40:07] LHL: Mine too. Yeah, it does.
[0:40:09] SW: What's your favorite scent to smell?
[0:40:12] AM: Ooh. Gosh, I used to would have said lavender, but I don't think it's that anymore. I like the way my cat smells. Ooh, I don't know why he just – I can't believe he bathes himself with the same tongue that doesn't smell so good. But his body, he just smells good. I don't know. There's like a smell and I'm like amazed. Sometimes I think like, "Oh, my gosh, I'm like living with this beautiful stuffed animal that's alive." Yeah, he smells good. That's weird. I can't believe I just said that. But it's true.
[0:40:37] LHL: Yeah. What is your favorite sound?
[0:40:42] AM: Ooh, favorite sound. Hmm. The robins early in the morning, but in the evenings of spring. Gosh, they are just so generous. They get up before everybody else. They go to bed later than everybody else. And that sound, it's just so hopeful. I'm so grateful for it right now. Yeah. It's probably right now out there.
[0:41:01] SW: I will not name her. She is a very cool person who I respect very much. But I just heard from someone that they hate the sound of the birds in the morning and they hate –
[0:41:09] AM: That's so funny.
[0:41:11] SW: Because of the birds.
[0:41:12] AM: I used to work with the guy who we could not be more opposite. I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, I heard the bird somewhere." And he's like, "I hate it." I'm like, "Everything, everything that I loved, he did not like."
[0:41:19] LHL: Wow. I find it so soothing and hopeful.
[0:41:22] AM: Right? I know.
[0:41:23] LHL: Yeah.
[0:41:23] SW: Yeah, it makes me feel renewed.
[0:41:25] AM: I have never been offended by a bird ever. Unless someone's given you the bird.
[0:41:30] SW: Yeah. Unless somebody's given me the bird. That's it.
[0:41:33] LHL: True.
[0:41:34] AM: True. True.
[0:41:34] LHL: Off the stage.
[0:41:35] SW: What is your favorite texture to touch?
[0:41:37] AM: These are so good. Just soft. Just soft. And can I say my cat?
[0:41:43] LHL: Yes, you can. Because, nearly, everybody does.
[0:41:48] AM: I just love him. Yeah. In my bed. I just love – right now, I'm just really into soft. Yeah, just soft landings.
[0:41:55] LHL: What is the most inspiring location you've traveled to?
[0:41:59] AM: - It's like right in Portsmouth, and it's a place that my partner and I go. You walk through the woods and then it opens up to title water and there's this rock that's warm that you can lay out on after you float. And I don't know what it is, but I can float forever. I would never die in salt water. And I just float, float, float there. And it's just so beautiful. It's just the most magical place. Yeah, if I could just go one place forever, that would be my place. And he feels the same way. We just love it.
[0:42:29] SW: I love when people give us hyper-local answers. So many artists are like, "Oh, Italy." And I'm like, "Yeah, that's cool." But I love when they're like the specific spot in Portsmouth.
[0:42:39] AM: Honestly, if I ever think of leaving Portsmouth, that's like one of the things that I'd be like, "I don't know I could ever leave the spot."
[0:42:45] SW: Oh, that's so sweet. What's the last new thing you've learned?
[0:42:51] AM: Well, I'm still learning it, but I'm trying to learn to not be consumed by things. Just to realize that I can be very black, white. And right now, I think it's just really important to not be consumed by the darkness. Yeah, I think it's something that I'm learning. And I'm still working on it.
[0:43:14] SW: Yeah. Get that.
[0:43:15] AM: Yep.
[0:43:16] LHL: This is our clincher question. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?
[0:43:21] AM: You're awesome. Be you. Screw the rest of them. Your parents don't know everything. And you know, you're the best. I don't know. I look at her now and I'm like, "God, she was so fun." I would love to hang out with her. I feel like then, I guess, I like me too. Because I'm kind of just feel like her still.
[0:43:43] LHL: Good. I love that.
[0:43:45] SW: That's cool. Right? -
[0:43:45] LHL: Yes, that is very cool.
[0:43:46] AM: Wow, I can't believe I just said that. Is it cringy? My daughter will be like, "Mom, that was so cringy." Did I tell you guys I have twins?
[0:43:58] LHL: Oh, no. Oh my God.
[0:43:59] AM: - Yeah, I have 19-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. August and Owen. Yeah. They're probably going to cringe at that too.
[0:44:07] SW: That's wonderful.
[0:44:08] LHL: Hey, they're listening? They're listening. And that means that they care.
[0:44:10] AM: No. They will. Yeah. Yeah, they're cute like that.
[0:44:13] SW: And they made it all the way to the end of the interview, and that's a pretty big compliment.
[0:44:16] AM: Well, we'll see. If they say something to me, or if they don't, I'll know.
[0:44:19] LHL: You should say like, "Kids, if you made it this far, you get an extra – I'll give you an extra –" yeah, something. What do they care about?
[0:44:27] AM: I'll give you money for sushi. They're in college. They just want good food, right?
[0:44:32] LHL: The code word is sushi, folks.
[0:44:36] AM: But it only works for my kids. Sorry guys.
[0:44:37] LHL: Yes. Well, Aris, this has been an absolute joy.
[0:44:44] AM: Oh my gosh. Me too.
[0:44:44] SW: This is brilliant. Thank you.
[0:44:45] AM: Can we just hang out again sometime?
[0:44:46] LHL: Yes, we can.
[0:44:47] AM: Super fun.
[0:44:48] LHL: This is just our secret way to be friends with everybody cool.
[0:44:50] SW: Oh, yeah. We weren't actually recording.
[0:44:52] AM: I love it. Yeah. We're friends. Awesome.
[0:44:54] LHL: Oh, so good. Aris, thank you again for being on Creative Guts. And with that –
[0:45:01] LHL, SW, AM: Show us your creative guts.
[OUTRO]
[0:45:07] LHL: Another huge thank you to Aris for joining us on Creative Guts. Even though we talked about dark stuff, sunshine in a bottle, she's so flippin' cool.
[0:45:17] SW: I know. It was so funny for her to be so sunshiny and then also so – well, she took us into like a little dark hole.
[0:45:24] LHL: She's affected, as we all are, by a lot of what's happening right now.
[0:45:28] SW: Yes. It was so good and interesting to hear her perspective on how it's shaped her art and how she's using her art to sort of –
[0:45:36] LHL: Expression.
[0:45:36] SW: Beautiful.
[0:45:37] LHL: Yeah. Pure expression.
[0:45:39] SW: Yeah. And I never know how to like compliment someone's art. But I love her little creatures so much. And she talked about people referring to them as ugly, or scary, or whatever. And I just think that if your art isn't a little scary and ugly, then I'm probably not going to be madly in love with it. And I'm so madly in love with their creatures and part of it is that they are a little like ugly and weird-looking.
[0:46:02] LHL: Yeah, they're just so fantastical and bizarrely real for being unrealistic.
[0:46:10] SW: Yes. And the eyes are kind of human.
[0:46:13] LHL: Yes.
[0:46:14] SW: I think that's what does it.
[0:46:15] LHL: Yes. There's a certain breed of dog that has human eyes. I don't remember what it is, but they are very humanistic-looking. And so it's just like you're peering into my soul somehow, but you're a dog.
[0:46:27] SW: I was so smitten with the way that she was talking about her creatures. She feels bad for them and they have personalities. And, really, she knows them and loves them. They're her babies.
[0:46:36] LHL: I think all artists are parents in a way. They're creators of the life of the art that they make, whatever the discipline. But when you as an artist really see them as little beings, it's so darling and wonderful because I think you treat them that much more precious. And I forgot to ask her this question. I was going to ask her, "Are there some that you'll never part with?"
[0:46:58] SW: Oh, I bet there are.
[0:46:59] LHL: I would imagine. Because some are so personal and –
[0:47:02] SW: Yes.
[0:47:03] LHL: On take two with Aris, we will ask that question someday, hopefully. We'll revisit her down the line.
[0:47:09] SW: And if we didn't say it during the episode, Aris, congratulations on winning the Artist Advancement Grant, because that's a huge deal.
[0:47:17] LHL: Yeah, hands all around. We applaud you. That is such a wonderful accomplishment. And I think your work just connects with so many people. It's such a wonderful way to have that rewarded to enable you to do more of that.
[0:47:30] SW: Yeah. And we have so many listeners who are artists, sort of in the Piscataqua region, like catchment area. And so we're so appreciative of you coming here and talking about the process, and what advice you would give, and what it's like. It's hopeful, and inspiring, and also educational.
[0:47:46] LHL: Yes. And it really just gave us the warm fuzzies. And we have a new friend.
[0:47:49] SW: Yes. Oh my God. Yeah, she's the best.
[0:47:52] LHL: Yeah. We got big hugs after the interview. And it was just, "Oh, can't wait to talk to you again, pal."
[0:47:57] SW: Yes. If you want to check out Aris' work, you can find her on Instagram. Her handle is Aris Moore. And she has a Big Cartel website/shop, arismoore.bigcartel.com. And as always, of course, you can find those links and more in the episode description and on our website, creativegutspodcast.com.
[0:48:14] LHL: You can also find us, Creative Guts Podcast, on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. The coolest little place to be on the internet is our Discord. And if you're not on social media but want to stay in the know about what we're doing, join our newsletter through our website.
[0:48:28] SW: This episode is sponsored in part by the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts. Thank you to Matt and Amy for your support of the show. We love you.
[0:48:37] LHL: A big huge thank you to Art Up Front Street for providing a wonderful space where Creative Guts can record in.
[0:48:43] SW: If you love listening and you want to support Creative Guts, you can make a donation, leave us a review, interact with our content and social media, purchase some merch. Whatever you're able to do, whatever you want to do, we appreciate and love you.
[0:48:54] LHL: We really do.
[0:48:55] SW: We really do. We mean it.
[0:48:57] LHL: Thank you for tuning in. We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode of Creative Guts.
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